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The first known dynasty from Uttar Kannada District are Chutus of Banavasi. Uttara Kannada was the home of the Kadamba kingdom from the 350 to 525. They ruled from Banavasi. After the subjugation of the Kadambas by the Chalukyas, the district came under successive rule of empires like Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Hoysalas and Vijayanagar empire. Famous Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta is said to have stayed for a time in the district under the protection of Nawayath Sultan Jamal Al-Din at Hunnur.[2] This place is presently known as Hosapattana and is located in the town of Honnavar. Ruins of an old mosque and its minaret can still be seen in the village. The district came under the rule of Maratha Empire in the 1750s and later part of Mysore Kingdom, who ceded it to the British at the conclusion of the Fourth Mysore War in 1799. It was initilally part of Kanara district in Madras Presidency. The district was divided to North and South Kanara districts in 1859. The British finally transferred Uttara Kannada district to Bombay Presidency in 1862.

Significant and picturesque, the Sadashivgad fort of historical importance is now a popular tourist destination located by the Kali river bridge, which has been built at the confluence of the river and the Arabian Sea. The renowned Bengali poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who visited Uttara Kannada in 1882, dedicated an entire chapter of his memoirs to this town.[3] The 22-year-old Rabindranath Tagore stayed with his brother, Satyendranath Tagore, who was the district judge in Uttara Kannada. There is a substantial amount of Chardo families in this area as they had migrated due to the persecution of the Portuguese in Goa.

Cintacora, also known as Chitrakul (Chittakula) and Sindpur, was known to the Portuguese as a very old port. When Sadashivgad was built in this area, the village also came to be known by that name. Pir fort, named for the Dargah of Shahkaramuddin, was captured and burnt by the Portuguese in 1510. The creek at the mouth of the Kali River was a trading center which came into greater prominence after Sadashivgad was built and the Portuguese realised the advantages of its sheltered harbor.

In 1638 a rival English trading body, the Courteen Association, established a factory at Uttara Kannada (actually the village named Kadwad, situated 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) eastwards on the banks of the Kali river). It was a trade port frequented by traders from Arabia and Africa. Baitkhol port (the current civil port of Uttara Kannada) was famous for its natural harbour. The name Baithkhol is Arabic term, Bait-e-kol, meaning bay of safety. Muslin was the chief commodity purchased but Uttara Kannada was also a source for pepper, cardamom, cassia and coarse blue cotton cloth. Situated on India's west coast, 50 miles south-east of Goa, Uttara Kannada was noted for its safe harbour. In 1649 the Courteen Association united with the British East India Company and Uttara Kannada became a company factory.

The British made Uttara Kannada their district headquarters in 1862. Since 1862, the time from which it came under Bombay Presidency, Uttara Kannada was described as a first rate harbor between Bombay and Colombo.

The main geographic feature of the district is the Western Ghats or Sahyadri range, which runs from north to south through the district. Between the Sahyadris and the sea is a narrow coastal strip, known as the Payanghat, which varies from 8 to 24 kilometres (5.0 to 14.9 mi) in width. Behind the coastal plain are flat-topped hills from 60 to 100 meters in height, and behind the hills are the ridges and peaks of the Sahyadris. East of the Sahyadris is the Balaghat upland, part of the vast Deccan plateau. Moisture-bearing winds come from the west, and yearly rainfall averages 3,000 millimetres (120 in) on the coast, and as high as 5,000 millimetres (200 in) on the west-facing slopes of the Sahyadris. East of the crest is the rain shadow of the Sahyadris, which receive as little as 1,000 millimetres (39 in) annually. Much of the rain falls in the June–September monsoon. Five major rivers drain westwards from the crest of the Sahyadris to the sea; from north to south, they are the Kali, Gangawali, Aghanashini, Sharavati and Venkatapur. These rivers form numerous waterfalls, the most famous of which is Jog falls, on upper reaches of the Sharavati in neighboring Shimoga district, other famous waterfalls include Unchalli Falls, where the river Aghanashini drops 116 meters, Magod Falls, where the Bedti river plunges 180 meters in two leaps, Shivganga falls, where the river Sonda (Shalmali) drops 74 meters, and Lalguli falls and Mailmane falls on the river Kali. In the lowlands, these rivers form wide estuaries, extending several kilometers inland from the coast.

The district is also home to patches of savanna and degraded scrub jungles, which are often the result of overuse for logging or grazing. Much of the lowland has been cleared for agriculture. Mangrove forests can be found in the river estuaries, and the sandy beaches are home to groves of Calophyllum inophyllum, coconut and screw pine (Pandanus). The rocky beaches at Binaga, Arga, Belekeri, Tadadi, Gokarna, Ankola, Kumta, Dhareshwar, Kasarkod, Murdeshwara, Bhatkal and Belke of the district are rich with marine fauna diversity. The beaches at Bhatkal include American Jali Beach, Bahrain Jali Beach, NaStar Beach, Nakhuda Beach, Lighthouse Beach and the rocky Udmudey Beach. The rocky beaches of Uttara Kannada District harbor the invertebrates belonging to the phyla Porifera, Coelenterata, Annelida, Arthropoda, Mollusca and Echinodermata.
Attiveri bird sanctuary is home to 79 species of birds including migratory birds from 22 countries.

Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary is famous for the elusive black panther among other animals like gaur, tiger and leopards.
The Kavala caves with their 5 feet (1.5 m). High natural Shiva linga, Synthery rocks is a 500 feet (150 m) high rock flanked by natural caves and waterfalls, Vincholi rapids, Sykes point which offers a view of Kali river, and a suspension bridge are places worth visiting in this sanctuary. Yana is an enchanting place that can be reached by trekking about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) through lush forest. It is famous for its tall jagged rock formations and waterfalls. There is also a shrine of Bhairaveshvara here.
Anshi National Park located some distance from Dandeli is undisturbed. Burude Falls is about 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Siddapur, Unchalli Falls, Shivagangae, BeeneHolae Fall is about 25 kilometres (16 mi) from Sirsi, Magod Falls and Sathodi Falls near Yellapura are some of the best natural falls in Uttara Kannada District. There are many dams in this district namely Supa Dam, Kodasalli Dam and Kadra Dam. The famous Atomic energy station at Kaiga is on the beautiful banks of Kali River (Karnataka).

The main language spoken in this district is Kannada. Kannada is the predominant language of the district, followed by Konkani which is also widely spoken. Nawayath is spoken by Muslims in Bhatkal and surrounding areas.

The population is predominantly Hindu composed of majority communities, although a Catholic community has existed here since the 1500s. Muslims have a sizeable majority in Bhatkal Taluk and are majority in Bhatkal City.

Total about 10.8 lakh people in the district are literate, among them about 5.8 lakh are male and about 5 lakh are female. Literacy rate (children under 6 are excluded) of Uttara Kannada is 84%. 90% of male and 78% of female population are literate here. Overall literacy rate in the district has increased by 7%. Male literacy has gone up by 5% and female literacy rate has gone up by 10%.

Yakshagana is a classical dance drama popular in the state of Karnataka in India mostly popular in the districts of Uttara Kannada. Shimoga, Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Kasaragod district of Kerala. This theater art involves music, songs, dance, acting, dialogue, story and unique costumes. While songs and dance adhere to well established talas very similar to classical Indian dance forms, acting and dialogues are created spontaneously on stage depending on ability of artists. This combination of classical and folk elements makes yakshagana unique from any other Indian art. This would be considered to be a form of opera in western eyes. Traditionally, yakshaganas use to start late in the night and run entire night. Bagavatha, the background singer is also the directory of the story and controls the entire proceedings on stage. Bagavatha along with background musicians who play chande and maddale forms himmela. The actors who wear colorful costumes and enact various roles in the story forms mummela. There are many professional troops in Karnataka. In spite of competition from modern movie industry and TV, these troops are arranging ticketed shows and making profit. Apart from this individuals arrange shows in their village inviting well known professional artists like Sri Chittani Ramachandra Hegde,Kondadakuli Ramachandra Hegde,Gopal Achari Theerthahalli and Ramesh Bhandari Murur, providing an opportunity for local talents to act with legends. Yakshagana is sometimes simply called as aataā in both Kannada and Khela(Karwari Konkani) Konkani (meaning play).[7] Yaksha-gana literally means the song (gana) of a yaksha. Yakshas were an exotic tribe mentioned in the Sanskrit literature of ancient India.[8] The Nawayath men wears lungis unique to them.

Uttara Kannada is famous for a variety of seafood delicacies. Fish curry and rice is the staple diet of the locals. Cashews and coconut are also extensively used.

The staple diet includes a portion of steamed rice with a vegetable and/or seafood accompaniment. Seafood is immensely popular due to its ease of availability, and is prepared with a lot of local spices. Tea is the most popular beverage and is sometimes supplemented with cardamom or mint to give a distinct flavour.

Kotte Kadubu: The main ingredients in Kotte Kadubu are jackfruit pulp and jaggery. The batter which is prepared with additional ingredients is put into a container and steamed. This dessert is a local delicacy and is served hot with ghee.

Holge: These are similar to the sweet equivalents of tortillas. One variant is made with gram flour and jaggery, while the other is made with coconuts.

Todadevu is a special kind of thin-crust dosa made out of jaggery or sugarcane juice. (Most local desserts of Sirsi have jaggery rather than sugar.)

Neer Dose: A soft thin pancake made of batter of boiled rice, coconut milk and salt.

Kajmiji

Koli Kajjaya and Hosagere Kajjaya are made of rice flour and fried in oil is a famous dish often using roti. Often served with thick potato sambar or Nati chicken curry, it is a delicacy among the non-vegetarian communities in Siddapura.

North West Karnataka Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) is the state transport agency in the district. The NWKRTC covers all towns & villages of the district. There is a good network of public transport which connects the villages to the towns of the district. There are regular intra state services to major cities & towns of the state like Bangalore, Mangalore, Mysore, Hubli-Dharwad & Belgaum. The Kadama Transport buses of neighboring Goa state provides regular service from Karwar to Mangalore and all part of Goa state. Kumta, Bhatkal & Sirsi are the main hubs for public transport which provides services to intra-district & intrastate round the clock.

Uttara Kannada being one of the coastal district of the Karnataka state has a coast of 120 kilometres (75 mi) has many ports which are used for sea trade, naval base, fishing and other maritime activities.

Karwar Port is an intermediate sea port the main activities of this port are berthing of ocean going ships, coastal shipping, and fishing jetty. Ship bunkering facility is also available at Karwar port.

Karwar Airport will be built by the Indian Navy at Alageri village. Naval air base which is part of the Navy’s Rs 10,000 crore Phase 2 of Project Seabird

INS Kadamba is a naval base at Arga village of Karwar which is used exclusively for berthing of naval vessels. A naval ship repair yard (dry docks) is also attached to it.

Belkeri Port is an anchorage port.

Tadri Port is a fishing port.

Kumta Port is a fishing port.

Honnavar Port is a fishing port.

Bhatkal Port is a fishing port. It was actually Project Seabird which is now in Karwar, people protest and proposal for withdrawn. There is another fishing port called Tengingundy Port.

The Proposed Hubli-Ankola railway line can be feasible venture for the future developments of the ports in the district, for movement of the cargo, at present roads are only major mode of cargo movement which leads to congestion of the National Highways of the district.

SM Syed Khalilurahman, A prominent Businessperson in Dubai, One of Most India’s influential personality in UAE, An Educationist, A Philantrophist, One of the Earliest Chartered accountants in the region. Hails from Bhatkal, Resides in Dubai UAE.